


Dye in a Sink

by Badgermole



Series: Colors [18]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Autism, Cashier, Colors, Flashback, Gen, Hair Dyeing, Hair Salon, Haircuts, Purple, Shopping, dad!logan, first word, kid!virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21909214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badgermole/pseuds/Badgermole
Summary: Flashback: Virgil wants to dye his hair. Logan is completely lost.(Just read it, Nike Swoosh!)
Series: Colors [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1184909
Comments: 14
Kudos: 261





	Dye in a Sink

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place about 3 years prior to the normal story, and about a year before they meet Roman & Thomas.
> 
> Someone had asked about Virgil's purple hair so I thought I'd write up about it. (Sorry, I don't remember who asked but hope you enjoy it.)

Logan should have seen this coming. Virgil was fascinated with colors, it really was only a matter of time.

Virgil toddled back up to the woman with brightly colored hair. Logan quickly scurried after once again. The woman had seemed unbothered the first couple of times but Logan could see her patience waning and her annoyance growing. Virgil wasn’t doing anything aside from rocking himself in front of the woman, but she was obviously trying to watch her own child.

“Virgil, please.” Logan knelt down beside his son who flinched. “We have to leave the nice lady alone.”

Virgil flicked his eyes to the right of Logan’s shirt.  _ No. _

The small 3 year old tugged at his unruly hair. It once again was getting too long and Logan didn’t know how much longer he could keep pushing off a haircut. Virgil couldn’t stand getting his hair cut, whether it be at all the different barber shops, hair salons, or even at home with Logan wielding the scissors. He was a bit calmer with Logan at home but Logan was no hair stylist. Sure there wasn’t a lot to do for Virgil, as opposed to someone with long hair, but it was still a lot more than he was used to. He just didn’t feel particularly comfortable with holding sharp things near his son’s head.

“Why don’t we…” Logan thought for a moment. “Why don’t we go to the store and see if they have any dye for your hair?”

Virgil’s face lit up, or as much as it ever did staring at the ground, and he happily followed his father out of the park.

Logan blinked at the many _ many _ women staring back at him from hair dye boxes. Virgil was happily hopping up and down the aisle. Maybe he shouldn’t have promised Virgil that he could dye his hair. Logan barely knew what he was looking at. Was there even a color Virgil had in mind?

Logan was going to figure it out if it killed him. His son was only really outwardly excited with his crayons. But here he was flapping and hopping and rocking. His head was actually up as he took in all of the boxes. 

“Have you found something you like?” Logan asked when Virgil stopped in front of one section. VIrgil stayed blinking up at the shelves full of interesting colors. The display was arranged in a nice rainbow gradient from the reds at the top to the violets at the bottom. Virgil ran his fingers back and forth on the glossy boxes.

“Puh-pur.” 

“Wha… what was that?” Logan kneeled down next to Virgil. He still didn’t talk and Logan didn’t really think that his time with Dr. Picani was helping. Nevertheless, the teacher trusted that the doctor was doing his best. Virgil was still very young, but there was still the possibility that his son would never talk. Logan thought of himself more of a realist, but perhaps he was really a pessimist.

“Purple.”

“I… uh…” Logan found himself tripping over his words. It made perfect sense that his first word would be a color. “Yes, we can get the purple one.”

Virgil pulled the box in front of him off the shelf sending the surrounding boxes off the shelf. The boy excitedly started for the front of the store. Logan could hear him repeating “Purple” to himself.

“Wait up!” Logan haphazardly shoved the fallen boxes back onto the shelf. They may be in the wrong spot but at least he didn’t leave an obstacle in the middle of the aisle. He had to catch his son before he left the store with the unpurchased box. Logan didn’t need his son getting arrested for shoplifting.

Logan managed to corral Virgil away from the exit and to the drug store’s front counter. An apathetic teen glanced at the pair of customers. Virgil stared at the box in his hands. His fingers were flexing around the box enough for a pleasuring sensation but not enough that he would drop the box.

“I need to scan that.” The woman reached over the counter but Virgil leaned out of the way. “Kid.” 

Logan wished the store had a self check-out.

“We have to buy it first in order to take it home.” Logan explained and attempted to take the box away from his son. At least he knew not to touch Virgil as opposed to the cashier. He was sure they wanted to get out of there as much as the teen did.

Virgil did his best to squirm away from both sets of hands. He hugged the box protectively against his chest. 

“Can you look it up?” Logan tried. 

The teen looked between Virgil and Logan. She gave a sigh and Logan was quite sure that he caught her rolling her eyes but she started tapping away on the machine.

“What is it?”

“Hair dye.” Realizing he was still crouched down, Logan stood up and straightened his tie; he was a serious person after all. Her eyes raised over the screen. The animosity laid heavily in the air.

“Brand. Size. Type.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Etcetera.”

He wasn’t one to call for a manager, but he was really contemplating it. He doubted it would solve anything though. Virgil still wouldn’t give away the box and Logan still would have no idea what the specifics were for what he was trying to buy. It wasn’t even a given that the manager would have better customer service.

As Logan was trying to recall what the box looked like on the shelf, Virgil popped up onto his tippy toes and held the box so the barcode pointed toward the worker.

The woman gave a disgruntled huff. Her one hand tapped away on the screen getting rid of all the work she had just done, while her other reached for box. Just as her fingers grazed the glossy cardboard, Virgil yanked it back to his chest.

“Kid.” The teen hissed through clenched teeth. Once her hand was gone, Virgil moved the box back over the counter.

“Can you scan it from his hands?” Logan hoped he masked his impatience well. The cashier’s face didn’t change from its eternal frown so Logan couldn’t tell. She grumbled under her breath but was able to scan the barcode without any trouble.

Logan was able to buy himself a few days while Virgil refused to separate himself from the box. It was with him in bed, at the table, on the edge of the tub… everywhere. Logan had spent his free time searching through Youtube for tutorials. He felt mildly more confident but he was totally out of his depth. He wished that he had put in more of an effort to befriend his neighbors or at the very least have introduced himself. The awkward teacher would’ve felt much more comfortable approaching someone who waved at him rather than a complete stranger. 

So Logan did the only logical thing, he tried it on himself. He didn’t need to follow a dress code being an online teacher. He was just going to do a small strip anyway, no one would notice. Logan waited until Virgil was deep in sleep before tiptoeing into his room. God, he felt like a teenager. The teacher slowly pulled the box from Virgil’s sleeping hands and headed out of the room faster than you could say hair dye.

Logan stared back at his reflection. Yup, he definitely looked as nervous as he felt. He reread the instructions for the tenth time before finally convincing himself to open the box. Logan adjusted the towel around his neck. The texture made shivers jump down his spine. He pushed through the scratchy feeling and removed his glasses.

The sink stayed purple for the next couple days.

Logan started looking for a hair stylist again. Most of the places nearby had already proved no-goes from previous hair cutting attempts. He also didn’t want to travel far. The quicker they got there and the quicker they were able to get home made everything so much easier. 

Virgil was more than antsy about getting his hair dyed. Seeing the purple sink and then his dad with his splotchy purpled hair made him stomp around the house trying to give Logan the box of dye.

“Purple.” Virgil tried shoving the box into Logan’s lap as he hunched over his computer screen.

“I know you want it purple Virgil.” Logan sighed. “I need to find someone who can do it for you.”

“Purple.” Virgil pushed the box closer to Logan.

“Someone who knows how to do it… and can do it well.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. Eventually, Virgil gave up for now and continued stomping around the house still holding the box.

AI was smart, why couldn’t it just tell Logan which one would be best for his son? Just as the thought crossed his mind he found a website for a brand new hair salon. The site was rather generic but one section did catch his eye. They opened early for special appointments. The company had a small bulleted list of examples of what could qualify for a special appointment spot. The first bullet?  _ Autistic customers. _

Logan wrung his hands looking at the storefront that happily had a ‘Now Open!’ banner hanging in the window. They had scheduled a consultation. The half-hour block was to let Virgil and Logan check out the place and the selection of workers that were confident and comfortable working with an autstic customer. 

Virgil was grumpy as he held the box of dye close to his chest. Logan hoped that it was just Virgil still trying to wake up. The nervous father thought that he seemed happy to go to the hair salon but he really couldn’t be sure.

Logan was surprised to see so many people in the salon. There was the obligatory person behind the reception desk but there were also four other workers milling around. The receptionist smiled at them upon realizing someone had entered.

“The Sanders?” The woman asked.

Logan nodded. “I’m Logan. This is my son Virgil.”

“Purple.” Virgil chirped quietly and held up his battered box of hair dye.

“That’s a very nice color.” She motioned to the stations behind her. “Feel free to wander around. I’ll grab Edna for you.” 

Logan looked to his son. He was the one that everything depended on. Virgil was slow to start moving but he did lean sideways to see past the desk. He listened to the click-clack of shoes as the workers puttered around near their stations. The tall black spinning chairs sat opposite big mirrors. Virgil hunched slightly and ran his eyes over the cluttered counters, each filled to the brim with bottles of all different sizes. He didn’t know why they needed so many bottles; Logan and he only had three at home. 

“You can go closer if you want.” Logan wished he knew what was going on in Virgil’s head. Was it a good idea that they were here? With all the past not so great experiences, he didn’t want to overwhelm his son. He was already overwhelmed himself, at least Virgil didn’t seem to notice.

“Purple.”

“Why don’t you show the nice folks your hair dye? I’m sure that they’d love to see it.” Logan watched as Virgil hesitantly made his way toward the closest station. No one was there but at least he was exploring. The small boy toddled himself to the front of the chair and gave the attached footrest a light kick. The leather salon chair turned slowly but stopped before it even made it halfway around. Logan gave a small smile.

The receptionist returned with a short woman in glasses who introduced herself as Edna, the owner.

“I’m so happy you could come darling.” After shaking Logan’s hand Edna motioned to the chairs in the waiting area. “Come sit, come sit.”

Logan chose a chair that he could still see Virgil entertaining himself with the spinning chair. One of the workers, who had short spiky hair, crouched down near the boy and seemed to be talking but Virgil didn’t seem to notice. Logan took that as a positive sign. 

Virgil liked the feeling of the moving leather as the chair spun around and around. The man had lowered it while managing to keep it spinning. Now that he could really reach it, Virgil was instead focused on the sensation of spinning leather under his hand, so the man helped keep it spinning.

Virgil liked how quiet it was and how the adults, aside from the spiky haired spinning man, left him alone. Adults were normally weird, but these adults just wandered around doing their own thing. 

The world disappeared until it was just Virgil and the spinning chair. The bumps of his fingerprints seemed to match perfectly with the cracks of the leather. A slight buzz started at his fingers and crawled up his arm before speeding to fill his chest. When his chest could hold no more, the warm buzz started to leak. His tightly curled fingers vibrates against the glossy battered box while the buzz filled his ears. Hidden in his light-up shoes, his toes wiggled happily in time with the magic buzz.

He felt… full. 

Then it was gone.

The fullness of the buzz zipped back out the way it came. It was as though it was sucked right out of his fingertips. His body froze in shock from the sudden lack of stimulation. 

The chair had stopped spinning.

The small boy was slingshotted back into the world. The change was jarring. Virgil’s face screwed up while his free hand repeatedly squeezed around his ear. There was a slight crunch as he started to curl into himself. 

He heard the slight squeak of the chair as it started turning again through his uncovered ear, but it couldn’t do anything to bring back the peaceful feeling. He was like a fish yanked out onto land and left to flop around blindly for the water it came from.

His dad had moved over to him, just hovering nearby. Virgil shuffled a couple inches closer to Logan.He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do but he knew that his dad was good. 

He felt empty now.

The spiky haired man kept trying to apologize to Logan for not paying attention but Logan kept waving him off. The woman who worked at that station had come in a few minutes before. She ended up chatting with her coworker as to not bother Virgil. The woman was a bit frazzled as it seemed she had been running late but put her need to get ready second to the small boy playing with her chair. Distracted with the conversation, the man had stopped spinning the chair.

Logan assured the man that there was no need to apologize and instead he apologized to the woman for preventing her from getting ready for work. She was here for the appointment after the Sanders. They were impeding her.

As they got stuck in a cycle of apologies, none of them noticed as Virgil very very slowly jousted himself up into the chair. He stayed mostly hunched over to hide his reflection behind the bottles that lined the counter. Something nice brushed against his back as he scooted farther back into the chair.

The tense boy slowly cracked open one eye to see what it was. A purple jacket. The woman must have dropped the jacket when she walked in.

When the adults finally agreed to just move past all the apologizes, they found Virgil curled up asleep in the chair with the purple jacket pulled down over his head.

The Sanders came back a few days later. Officially, Logan had scheduled it as another consultation but the workers were also ready in case Virgil was okay with getting his hair done. Edna, the spiky haired man, and the woman were all there again. 

Virgil, still carrying the box of dye, immediately headed over to the woman’s chair. He kicked the foot rest a few times since the chair was too high for him to get into. After about the fourth kick, the woman walked over and lowered the chair.

Virgil quickly scrambled onto the chair and pulled the purple jacket, which was on the chair back again, down onto his lap.

“Hi Virgil,” the woman watched Virgil in his reflection, “I don’t think that we got introduced last time. My name is Valerie.”

“Purple.” Virgil held up his hair dye.

“I did hear that you wanted to dye your hair.” Valerie nodded. Virgil held his short arms up as far as he could and shoved the box backwards into Valerie.

“We can definitely dye your hair.” The hairdresser looked over the battered box. “Do you want me to cut your hair too?”

Virgil didn’t seem to respond but after a nod and an encouraging thumbs up from Logan, Valerie started on her work.

Virgil left the hair salon with a head of short purple hair while Valerie’s station now held a battered and dinged up empty box of purple hair dye.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I say it often, but if you have anything you want to see let me know. Characters, events, etc. I'll try to fit it in.
> 
> Also, Happy Holidays!


End file.
